Unspeakable
by Beboppin' Betty
Summary: Ryan's daughter witnesses an act of brutal violence, and now everyone has to deal with the fallout.


She was only seven, but Elena Ramirez Atwood was an expert at reading people. She knew the best time to hit her parents up for extra dessert or a new toy; when she could get away with something, and the exact moment she crossed the line and could expect a smack from her mother. Not that spankings deterred her from misbehaving -- they just taught her to be more careful about getting caught. She could always tell what emotions lay behind her uncle's babbling and when an argument was the really serious kind compared to the little kind by body language alone.

And she always, _always _knew when her mom was scared. Especially when she was pretending not to be.

When she was woken up in the middle of the night by someone pounding on the door and yelling really loud, Elena knew that it was going to be one of those times.

Her eyes opened with a jolt that night, and at first she didn't know what had woken her. Then she heard the banging and the male voice, and her heart felt funny for a minute, like it had frozen in her chest. The plastic daisy clock on her nightstand read 1:17 -- she'd never been up that late before, except for maybe once, but was too preoccupied with why she'd woken to dwell on it.

It was really hot, like it had been all week. The air was heavy and made her feel sticky. The fan in the corner lazily rotated from side to side, offering some mild relief, but really just pushed the air around. The shadows in her room were familiar, comforting even, but she focussed her attention on the noise, waiting with bated breath.

Suddenly she heard her mother's voice join in with the man's, and felt the feeling in her chest start to go away. Finally realizing the feeling as fear, Elena frowned. She was really brave, rarely scared of anything, and didn't like the idea that something had managed to frighten her.

Determined to find out what was going on, she silently padded to her door and peeked out. From her position she had a perfect view of the kitchen where her mom was talking very loudly and forcefully to the man on the other side of the door.

"Eddie," she was saying. "Get out of here before I call the cops."

The cops? If her mom was threatening to call the cops, then this Eddie person had to be bad news. Venturing closer to the kitchen to get a better look at the man, Elena was quickly realizing that she had been right in being afraid before. The guy was big, and he was very angry. And, Elena noted, he was drunk.

"Theresa!" He yelled, pushing against the door. "Let me in!"

Immediately Elena wished for her father. He was strong and brave and could protect them against that Eddie guy. But he didn't live with them; he didn't even live in Chino. He lived near her grandparents in Newport, where he worked. Secretly, Elena wished she could go and stay with her dad for longer than just weekends, but loved her mom too much to hurt her feelings by saying so.

Then Eddie won his battle with the door and shoved his way inside. At that moment she didn't care what it did to her mother -- she wanted her dad. But he wasn't there so she did the only thing she felt she could.

Bracing her fists on her hips and giving him the most menacing glare she could muster, she yelled, "Hey! Get out of our house!" At the sound of her voice, both her mom and Eddie stopped short and looked over at her.

"Baby," her mother said far too cheerfully. "Go on back to bed, okay?"

Even in the dim light, Elena could see the way Theresa's smile quivered; the way her dark eyes brimmed with barely controlled panic. Her mom was really scared, so Elena knew she had to be the brave one. Instead of answering her mother, she addressed the intruder, who was staring at her with a kind of wonder.

"I _said _get out of our house!"

Her demand was ignored. "That's her?" He said, not tearing his eyes away. His scrutiny made her want to squirm, but she remained stony on the outside. Crouching down slightly, he smiled. "Hi..."

Then he reached out to her.

The fear blossomed in her chest again, and her tough facade slipped. Even as she was backing away, her mother roughly grabbed the outstretched arm, pushed it away. "Eddie," she said fiercely, making Elena feel proud of her for being strong. "Get out. Now!" His features contorted with rage, and Elena finally felt genuinely scared.

"I want to see her, Theresa!"

Her. Why did he want to see her?

"You have no right, Eddie. She's not yours! You know that!"

The confusion started to overpower the fear. She didn't really know what her mom meant -- of course she wasn't his. She belonged to only her mom and dad. But for some reason, the Eddie guy seemed to think differently.

"You're lying! She has to be mine!"

"I am not yours!" She yelled hotly, forgetting her fear.

"Baby," her mom said lowly, turning to meet Elena's gaze. "Run next door, quick. Call 911."

That was when things got really bad. She didn't want to leave, but her mom had used her serious voice. When she used that, Elena knew not to disobey, but this time she was willing to risk punishment because she didn't want to leave her mom alone. She hastily deliberated over what to do.

Eddie yelled "No!" and lunged for her. That did it. Even as Elena bolted for the door, her mother launched herself at him, shoving him out of the way. Despite being drunk, he regained his footing quickly and retaliated by hitting her hard across the face with the back of his hand. Elena watched in horror as her mom tumbled to the floor, but was jolted back into action as Theresa yelled for her to go.

Then he kicked her in the stomach and Elena immediately changed her course. She jumped at him, latched onto his leg, and sunk her teeth into his thigh. Her mother screamed at her to get out and Eddie just grunted, easily shaking her off. Falling back, she smacked her head on a chair. Temporarily stunned, she saw stars -- and realized that she was helpless against fighting off the man attacking her mother.

Finally she raced out the door and ran to the house next to theirs. There were a few unfamiliar cars in the driveway and the lights were on. She banged on the door as hard as she could for what seemed like forever. Finally someone Elena didn't recognize came to answer it.

"Hey, what-"

She didn't let him finish. "He's hurting my mom! Call 911! Hurry!"

The idiot just stared at her dumbly. She'd never been more angry in her life than in that instant. Her mom was getting really hurt, and all this stupid boy did was look at her. She was frustrated and angry and tired, and was on the verge of tears.

No. No crying. I have to help mama.

With fierce determination, Elena darted around him into the house. She knew the place as well as she knew her own home, it being both her best friend's and her babysitter's house, and ran in search for someone she knew. It didn't take long. TJ, her best friend Marla's seventeen-year-old brother, was in the living room with a couple of other people. He spotted her immediately and jumped to his feet.

"Elena, what are you doing here?"

"Call 911! He's hurting my mom!" She'd been gone an awfully long time now, and wanted to go back and stop Eddie from hitting her mother. Luckily, TJ didn't stop to ask questions and hastily ordered a girl near the phone to call the cops. Seeing that help was finally on the way, Elena headed back to the door, TJ fast on her heels.

"Elena! Laney, stop!"

She ignored him and ran faster. Her mom _needed _her. Throwing open her front door, she skidded to a stop. Eddie was gone and her mother... she wasn't moving. Elena crept closer, terrified of what she might see.

"Mama?" There was no answer, and finally seeing her mother's face, Elena gasped. Normally beautiful, Theresa was nearly unrecognizable. Her face was a mass of rapidly forming bruises and swelling. There was blood on her nightgown, and her arm -- right or left, Elena didn't know -- was bent at a funny angle. "Mama?" She said again, louder, dropping to her knees beside the unmoving form on the floor.

"Oh, shit." Elena didn't look up at the sound of TJ's voice. "Wake up, mama. I got help -- hear the sirens? Wake up!" She tentatively touched Theresa's shoulder, then started shaking her with more force. Suddenly arms closed around her midsection and pulled her back.

"No!" She shrieked, struggled against TJ's grasp. He didn't let go, even as she bit and kicked. "Let me go! She needs to wake up!"

"The ambulance is here, Laney. They're going to take her to the hospital; they're gonna help her."

Everything happened kind of fast after that. The paramedics took her mother away on a stretcher while she stayed with TJ as the police asked him some questions. Then the cop took her to the hospital in his car, and even turned the siren on for her. She didn't care though, and just stared out the window at the passing blur of lights.

She wanted more than anything for her dad to come and grab her up in his strong arms, tell her that everything would be alright. He would protect her and her mom from bad people like that Eddie guy. Somebody had to -- she'd learned the hard way that she couldn't do it. Suddenly she felt a lump form in her throat and tears collect in her eyes.

It was her fault that her mom was hurt. Eddie had started hitting because her mom wouldn't let him get near her, and Elena hadn't been able to stop him. Briefly she wondered how mad her dad would be, but couldn't stand the thought.

Determined, she blinked the tears back. She would _not _cry. She had to be strong. Maybe if she showed her dad how strong she could be, he wouldn't hate her.

The idea of her father hating her sent a bolt of fear through her entire body. She tried her best to stay brave, but it was hard.

With a little sigh, she curled up on the cracked vinyl seat of the police car and rested her head on the doorframe. The sounds of cars and distant sirens filtered in through the open window, but did nothing to drown out her thoughts.

For the very first time in her life, Elena felt truly alone. She didn't like the feeling, but decided that she had best get used to it.

Because nobody was going to want her after they found out what she'd done.

..........................................................................................................................................................

_Disclaimer_: I own nothing you recognize from the show.

A/N: This is my first time writing from a child's POV, so I apologize if it seems a little inaccurate or unbelievable. Remember that when you review.

Speaking of reviews, don't forget to do it!


End file.
